The presence of cardiac pulse, or heartbeat, in a patient is generally detected by palpating the patient's neck and sensing changes in the volume of the patient's carotid artery due to blood pumped from the patient's heart. A graph representative of the physical expansion and contraction of a patient's carotid artery during two consecutive pulses, or heartbeats, is shown at the top of FIG. 1. When the heart's ventricles contract during a heartbeat, a pressure wave is sent throughout the patient's peripheral circulation system. The carotid pulse shown in FIG. 1 rises with the ventricular ejection of blood at systole and peaks when the pressure wave from the heart reaches a maximum. The carotid pulse falls off again as the pressure subsides toward the end of each pulse.
The opening and closing of the patient's heart valves during a heartbeat causes high-frequency vibrations in the adjacent heart wall and blood vessels. These vibrations can be heard in the patient's body as heart sounds. A conventional phonocardiogram (PCG) transducer placed on a patient converts the acoustical energy of the heart sounds to electrical energy, resulting in a PCG waveform that may be recorded and displayed, as shown by the graph in the upper middle portion of FIG. 1. Conventional methods for detecting and displaying a PCG waveform are known in the art. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,687,738 and 4,548,204.
As indicated by the PCG waveform shown in FIG. 1, a typical heartbeat produces two main heart sounds. The first heart sound, denoted S1, is generated by vibration generally associated with the closure of the tricuspid and mitral valves at the beginning of systole. Typically, the heart sound S1 is about 14 milliseconds long and contains frequencies up to approximately 500 Hz. The second heart sound, denoted S2, is generally associated with vibrations resulting from the closure of the aortic and pulmonary valves at the end of systole. While the duration of the second heart sound S2 is typically shorter than the first heart sound S1, the spectral bandwidth of the heart sound S2 is typically larger than that of S1.
An electrocardiogram (ECG) waveform describes the electrical activity of a patient's heart. The graph in the lower middle portion of FIG. 1 illustrates an example of an ECG waveform for two heartbeats and corresponds in time with the carotid pulse and PCG waveform. Referring to the first shown heartbeat, the portion of the ECG waveform representing depolarization of the atrial muscle fibers is referred to as the “P” wave. Depolarization of the ventricular muscle fibers is collectively represented by the “Q,” “R,” and “S” waves of the ECG waveform. Finally, the portion of the waveform representing repolarization of the ventricular muscle fibers is known as the “T” wave. Between heartbeats, the ECG waveform returns to an isopotential level.
Fluctuations in a patient's transthoracic impedance also correlate with blood flow that occurs with each cardiac pulse wave. The bottom graph of FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a filtered impedance signal for a patient in which fluctuations in impedance correspond in time with the carotid pulse, the PCG, and ECG waveforms.
The lack of a detectable cardiac pulse in a patient is a strong indicator of cardiac arrest. Cardiac arrest is a life-threatening medical condition in which the patient's heart fails to provide enough blood flow to support life. During cardiac arrest, the electrical activity may be disorganized (ventricular fibrillation), too rapid (ventricular tachycardia), absent (asystole), or organized at a normal or slow heart rate without sufficient blood flow (pulseless electrical activity). A caregiver may apply a defibrillation shock to a patient in ventricular fibrillation (VF) or ventricular tachycardia (VT) to stop the unsynchronized or rapid electrical activity and allow a perfusing rhythm to return. External defibrillation, in particular, is provided by applying a strong electric pulse to the patient's heart through electrodes placed on the surface of the patient's body. If a patient lacks a detectable pulse but has an ECG rhythm of asystole or pulseless electrical activity (PEA), conventional therapy may include cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), which causes some blood flow.
Before providing defibrillation therapy or CPR to a patient, a caregiver must first confirm that the patient is in cardiac arrest. In general, external defibrillation is suitable only for patients that are unconscious, apneic (i.e., not breathing), pulseless, and in VF or VT. Medical guidelines indicate that the presence or absence of a pulse in a patient should be determined within 10 seconds. See, “American Heart Guidelines 2000 for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Emergency Cardiovascular Care, Part 3: Adult Basic Life Support,” Circulation 102 suppl. I: I-22-I-59, 2000.
Unfortunately, under the pressures of an emergency situation, it can be extremely difficult for first-responding caregivers with little or no medical training to consistently and accurately detect a cardiac pulse in a patient (e.g., by palpating the carotid artery) in a short amount of time such as 10 seconds. See, Eberle B., et al., “Checking the Carotid Pulse Diagnostic Accuracy of First Responders in Patients With and Without a Pulse” Resuscitation 33: 107-116, 1996. Nevertheless, because time is of the essence in treating cardiac arrest, a caregiver may rush the preliminary evaluation, incorrectly conclude that the patient has no pulse, and proceed to provide therapy; such as defibrillation, when in fact the patient has a pulse. Alternatively, a caregiver may incorrectly conclude that the patient has a pulse and erroneously withhold defibrillation therapy. A need therefore exists for a method and apparatus that quickly, accurately, and automatically determines the presence of a pulse in a patient, particularly to prompt a caregiver to provide appropriate therapy in an emergency situation.